Cooking apparatus

ABSTRACT

A cooking appliance particularly for preparation of ground meat containing sauces comprises a vessel having a central rotatable shaft carrying a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal bars which rotate with the shaft and between vertically spaced horizontal stationary bars. A U-shaped member attached to the end of the shaft near the bottom of the vessel follows the contour of the vessel and forms a stirring device.

United States Patent Nichols 41 COOKING APPARATUS [72] lnventor': JamesB; Nichols, 45 Roland Park Drive, Huntington, Va. 25708 221 Filed: July1,1971

21 Appl.No.: 158,780

52 U.S.Cl ..99/348,259/122 51 lnt.Cl. ..'.....A47j37/06 [58] Field ofSearch ..99/348, 352, 364, 371, 388, 99/395, 409; 259/8, 9, 107, 108,116, 121,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,082,513 12/1913 Gaines..259/122 1,471,670 10/1923 Smith ..99/348 X 1,642,531 9/1927 Barnard..99/348 UX [.151 3,691,938 1451 Sept. 19, 1972 Beran ..259/ 1072,022,384 11/1935 Pafi'en ..259/ 122 2,513,254 6/1950 Savage et al..99/348 X 2,850,268 9/ 1958 Miller et al. ..259/108 X Primary ExaminerWa1ter A. Scheel Assistant Examiner-Arthur 0. HendersonAttorney-Cushman, Darby & Cushman 57 I ABSTRACT A cooking applianceparticularly for preparation of ground meat containing sauces comprisesa vessel having a central rotatable shaft carrying a plurality-ofvertically spaced horizontal bars which rotate with the shaft andbetween vertically spaced horizontal stationary bars. A U- sh'apedmember attached to the end of the shaft near the bottom of the vesselfollows the contour of the'vessel and forms a stirring device.

1 4 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTEDSEP19 I972 SHEET 2 [IF 2 COOKINGAPPARATUS The present invention relates to improvements in cookingappliances and has particular application in the commercial preparationof sauces containing granulated meat such as spaghetti sauce. Inpreparing such sauces in a commercial establishment such as arestaurant, relatively large vessels must be used to produce the desiredquantity of sauce. It is desirable to have apparatus capable of cookingsuch quantities without requiring constant attention by the operatorduring the cooking period. The present invention provides a cookingapparatus which is essentially free of any manual operation or attentionduring the cooking period. In addition, the cooking apparatus of thepresent inventionautomatically granulates the meat being used in thesauce, whereby the operator can add the meat in ground form in bulk atthe beginning of the cooking process and need not expend time inbreaking the meat apart into a granulated form and mixing the meat intothe sauce. With the apparatus of the present invention, all theingredients of the final sauce, -e.g., ground meat such as ground beefand sausage, spices, onions, tomatoes ect. can be added in bulk to thecooker at the beginning of the cooking period and the operator need notexpend time in mixing or granulating the ingredients, and theingredients are constantly stirred during the cooking period with noattention required by the operator.

Cooking apparatus having a vertical centered shaft with a curved dasherelement engaging the bottom wall of the cooking vessel is disclosed inUS. Pat. No. 960,105, issued May 31, 1910. In addition, the shaftcarries a plurality of horizontal, vertically spaced blades whichalternate with horizontal, vertically spaced heating coils. However, theapparatus US. Pat. No. 960,105 is cumbersome and difficult todisassemble and rassemble for cleaning purposes.

In accordance with the present invention, an easily disassembled cookingappliance is provided which cooks meat containing sauces with a minimumof attention by the operator and automatically granulates ground meat inthe sauce during the cooking period. The appliance has means forcontinuously mixing the sauce during the cooking process in a mannerwhereby the sauce is kept at an evenly distributed temperature, andburning and sticking of the sauce on the bottom and side walls of thecooking vessel is prevented.

The cooking appliance of the present invention comprises a cookingvessel having cylindrical side walls, a removable top closure, anintegral'bottom section, a rotatable shaft removably fixed at one end todrive means mounted on the top closure and extending coaxial to the sidewalls of the vessel to near the bottom of the vessel. A horizontal baris attached to the rotatable shaft on the end of the shaft near thebottom of the vessel. The horizontal bar extends radially from the shaftin near proximity of the bottom of the vessel to the near proximity ofthe side wall of the vessel. Both end portions of the horizontal bar arebent into upright extensions which are parallel and in near proximity ofthe side walls of the vessel. A series of hub elements are stacked oneupon the other in coaxial arrangement with the rotatable shaft. At leastone horizontal mixing bar or the like is attached to each of the hubelements and extends radially outward toward the side walls of thevessel. The hubs and horizontal mixing elements atwill be more fullydescribed with reference to the foltached thereto have means associatedtherewith whereby alternating hubs and horizontal elements along therotating shaft rotate with the shaft, while the remaining hubs andhorizontal elements are restrained from rotatingwith the shaft. The"differential movement between the alternating horizontal elementsefficiently directions. In the preferred mode, the hub elements that areto rotate with the rotatable shaft have square openings therein whichmatch the square shape of the rotatable shaft. The non-rotating hubshave round openings which are large enough that the rotatable shaft canturn freely therein.

The horizontal mixing elements which are connected to the non-rotatinghubs are longer than the horizontal elements connected to the rotatinghubs. At least one vertical elongated member is attached to the topclosure of the cooking apparatus and located at a point or points wherethe end portion of the longerhorizontal elements come into contact withthe elongated member and are thus restrained from further rotation. Theshorter horizontal members clear the elongated, vertical member and are,thus, free to rotate.

The longer horizontal elements are of such a length that the rotatingupright portion of the horizontal bar attached to the bottom of therotating shaft clears the ends of the horizontal elements. The uprightportions of the horizontal bar rotate in near proximity of the sidewalls of the cooking vessel thereby preventing sticking and burning onthe walls of the vessel.

An illustrative embodiment of the present invention lowing drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of apparatus embodying theprinciples of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a partial cross section of an alternative arrangement for thecenter rotating shaft and the bottom of the cooking vessel.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a cooking vessel 10 having aremovable top closure 11 which is held securely to the vessel 10 by wingnut and bolt 12 and washer 13. A motor drive and gear means 14 rests onthe top closure 11. The assembly 14 includes a vertical drive shaft 15extending through an opening in top closure 11 and terminating in adownwardly facing key means 16.

A mounting unit 17 is attached to the underside of the closure 11 forproviding a driving connection between the motor shaft 15 and a mixingassembly in the vessel 10. A vertical bore 18 having an enlargeddiameter at its upper end extends through the unit 17. Arotatingconnector block 20 havinga vertical bore is disposed'in theupper enlarged portion of thebore 18, and a plurality'of wells fittedwith springs and balls 21 open into the bore of the block'20. The driveshaft projects downwardly into the bore of the block 20.

A central shaft 22 is received in the bore 18 of mounting unit'17 and inthe bore of the block 20. The upper end of the shaft 22 is provided witha slot which engagesthe key means 16 on the drive shaft 15.'The portionof the shaft '22 which'is disposed within the mountingunit 17 has acircular cross-sectional shape. Below the point denoted by numeral 23,the shaft 22 is of a square cross-sectional shape. The shaft 22 isremovably retained in unit 17 and block 20 by the spring-loaded balls 21which engage an annular groove in the shaft22. v 1 v Shaft 22 extendsdownward to a terminal hub 23 which is attached thereto. Secured toterminal hub 23.

'walls 10.

The drive shaft l5of the motor and gear means 14 drives shaft 22inrotational motion and in turn the bars 24 and extensions 26 rotatewith shaft 22. The'horizontal section of bar 24 passes over the bottom25 of cooking vessel 10 in close relationship, thus preventing stickingor burning of the sauce on the bottom 25 of vessel 10.'Likewise, theupright portions 26 of bar 24 rotates in close proximity to the sidewalls of vessel 10 thereby preventing sticking or burning of the sauceon the sidewalls.

- A plurality of hub members27 and '28 are stacked one on top of theotherand in coaxial arrangement with respect to shaft 22. The hubmembers include a set of members 27 which have. square openings as shownin FIG. 3. The square opening in the hub members ,27 receive the squareshaft 22, and as shaft 22 rotates, the hub members 27 also rotate. Theother set of hub memin turn drive elongated members 29 in rotationalmovement about shaft 22. Elongated members 30 and their in the saucewhich aids in developing an excellent degree of bulk mixing of the saucein the cooking vessel.

In FIG. 2, it can be seen that the elongated elements 30 all lineup in avertical plane, and for the mode shown all elongated elements 29 andhubs 27 are arranged on shaft 22 so that the elongated elements 29 areall in a vertical'plane which rotates about an axis through shaft 22.The apparatus of the present invention is not limited to such anarrangement however.

The elongated members 29 and hubs 27 could be arranged on shaft 22whereby the elongated members bers 28 have circular openings therein asshown in FIG.

4. The circular openings in the hub members 28 are large enough to allowthe square shaped shaft 22 to freely rotate therein.

Two elongated horizontal members 29 are attached to each hub 27 andextend radially in opposite directions from the hub. These extensionsrotate with hubs 27. Two similar elongated members 30 are attached toeach hub 23 and extend radially and in opposite directions from hubs 28.The elongated members 30 are slightly longer than the elongated members29. The elongated members 30 extend to within close proximity to theupright portion 26 of bar 24 without obstructing the rotation of bar 24.Two vertical elongated members 31 are attached to top closure 11 andextend downward into vessel 10 at a radial location from shaft 22 thatthe tip ends of elongated members 30 extend beyond the vertical members31. The tip ends of elongated members 29 clear vertical members 31 so asto be rotatable about shaft 22. In operation, shaft 22 drives hubs 2 7in rotational movement which would lie in 2 vertical planes at 'witheachother .with both planes revolving about the axis through shaft 22. Inaddition, additional sets of vertical members 31 could be added around.the vessel at the same radial distance from shaft 22 whereupon some ofthe elongated members 30 could be situated to come into contact with theadditionalset of elongated members. If

two more vertical members 31 were added, the elongated members could bemade to form two vertical planes with the angle between these planesbeing determined by the placement of the additional vertical members 31.

As can be seen from the drawings, the cooking appliance of the presentinvention can be disassembled quickly and effortlessly. The motor anddrive means 14 is removed and then wing nuts 12 are removed whereuponthe top closure 11, mounting unit 17 and its associated parts, rotatableshaft 22,-bar '24 with upright sections 26 hubs 27 and 28 and associatedhorizontal elongated members 29 and .30 can be removed from the vessel10 as a single unit. The rotatable shaft 22 is then removed frommountingunit 17 against the detent action of the spring-loaded balls 21, and thehubs and horizontal elongated members are then free to slide from thefree end of shaft 22. Reassembly of the appliance is simply the reverseof the above method.

A further modification to the support mechanism for the shaft 22 hubs 27and 28 and mixing components 29 and 30 is shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5,the bottom 25 of the cooking vessel has integrally attached thereto astabilizing pin 25a. The stabilizing pin 25a is located directly underrotating shaft 22 and engages a suitably shaped opening in hub 23. Suchan arrangement prevents lateral movement of shaft 22 and in additionsupplies additional support for shaft 22 and theasw sembly of hubs andmixing bars associated with shaft 22. I Two systems have beenexemplified for supporting shaft 22 in the above description, i.e.,supported from the top of the cooking apparatus and supported from thebottom. It should be realized that these systems for supporting shaft 22and the associated mixing com-' ponents can be accomplished by a varietyof locking devices.

What is claimed is:

1. A cooking appliance, comprising, in combination, a cooking chamberhaving cylindrical side walls, a removable top closure and an integralbottom section; a rotatable shaft located coaxial with said cylindricalside walls, said rotatable shaft being removably fixed at one end todrive means mounted on said top closure; a horizontal bar attached tothe end of said rotatable shaft next to the bottom section of saidcooking chamber, whereby said horizontal bar rotates with said rotatableshaft, said bar extending radially in opposite directions from saidrotatable shaft towards said cylindrical side walls of said cookingchamber, said horizontal bar being in close proximity and parallel tosaid bottom section of said cooking chamber; a pair of vertical barsattached to the ends of said horizontal bar, whereby said vertical barsrotate with said horizontal bar, said vertical bars extending upwardfrom the end of said horizontal bar parallel and in close proximity tosaid cylindrical sidewalls; at least one elongated vertical memberhaving one end thereof attached to said top closure, said elongatedvertical member extending downwardly with the other end thereof clearingsaid horizontal bar near the bottom section of said cooking chamber,said elongated vertical member located near the cylindrical side wall ofsaid cooking chamber with sufficient clearance between said cylindricalside wall and said elongated vertical member whereby said rotatingvertical bars can pass therebetween; a set of hubs having a centralopening and being stacked one upon the other in coaxial arrangementalong said rotatable shaft, said set of hubs comprising first hubmembers,

which rotate with said rotatable shaft alternatively positioned alongsaid rotatable shaft with second hub members through which the rotatableshaft can freely rotate; at least one elongated horizontal memberintegrally attached to each of said first and second hub member, saidelongated horizontal members extending radially towards the cylindricalwalls of said cooking chamber, said elongated members which are attachedto said second hub members extend radially just beyond said. elongatedvertical member attached to said top closure so as to clear saidrotating vertical bars, said elongated members attached to said firsthub members extend radially so as to clear said elongated verticalmember attached to said top closure.

2. A cooking appliance as claimed in claim I wherein said rotatableshaft has a square cross-sectional shape, said first hub members have asquare central opening of a similar size to the cross-section of saidrotatable shaft and said second hub members have a circular centralopening large enough for said rotatable shaft to turn freely therein.

3. A cooking apparatus comprising: a vessel having cylindrical sidewalls; a rotatable, vertical mixing shaft within said vessel; aplurality of hubs slidably stacked on said shaft, alternate hubscooperating with said sh aft so as to be rotatable therewith and theother hubs being constructed so that said shaft turns within them; atleast one mixing bar fixed to an d extending horizontally from each hub;stationary means within said vessel supporting the outer ends of thosebars carried by said other hubs; a driven shaft supported coaxiallyabove said mixing shaft; and releasable coupling means between saiddriven shaft and said mixing shaft.

4. A cooking apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein a U-shaped mixingmember is attached to the end of said rotatable shaft near the bottom ofsaid vessel, said U-shaped mixing member being in near proximity of thebottom and side walls of said vessel with the upright sections of theU-shaped member clearing the ends of said mixing bars attached to saidhubs on said rotatable shaft.

1. A cooking appliance, comprising, in combination, a cooking chamberhaving cylindrical side walls, a removable top closure and an integralbottom section; a rotatable shaft located coaxial with said cylindricalside walls, said rotatable shaft being removably fixed at one end todrive means mounted on said top closure; a horizontal bar attached tothe end of said rotatable shaft next to the bottom section of saidcooking chamber, whereby said horizontal bar rotates with said rotatableshaft, said bar extending radially in opposite directions from saidrotatable shaft towards said cylindrical side walls of said cookingchamber, said horizontal bar being in close proximity and parallel tosaid bottom section of said cooking chamber; a pair of vertical barsattached to the ends of said horizontal bar, whereby said vertical barsrotate with said horizontal bar, said vertical bars extending upwardfrom the end of said horizontal bar parallel and in close proximity tosaid cylindrical side walls; at least one elongated vertical memberhaving one end thereof attached to said top closure, said elongatedvertical member extending downwardly with the other end thereof clearingsaid horizontal bar near the bottom section of said cooking chamber,said elongated vertical member located near the cylindrical side wall ofsaid cooking chamber with sufficient clearance between said cylindricalside wall and said elongated vertical member whereby said rotatingvertical bars can pass therebetween; a set of hubs having a centralopening and beiNg stacked one upon the other in coaxial arrangementalong said rotatable shaft, said set of hubs comprising first hubmembers which rotate with said rotatable shaft alternatively positionedalong said rotatable shaft with second hub members through which therotatable shaft can freely rotate; at least one elongated horizontalmember integrally attached to each of said first and second hub member,said elongated horizontal members extending radially towards thecylindrical walls of said cooking chamber, said elongated members whichare attached to said second hub members extend radially just beyond saidelongated vertical member attached to said top closure so as to clearsaid rotating vertical bars, said elongated members attached to saidfirst hub members extend radially so as to clear said elongated verticalmember attached to said top closure.
 2. A cooking appliance as claimedin claim 1 wherein said rotatable shaft has a square cross-sectionalshape, said first hub members have a square central opening of a similarsize to the cross-section of said rotatable shaft and said second hubmembers have a circular central opening large enough for said rotatableshaft to turn freely therein.
 3. A cooking apparatus comprising: avessel having cylindrical side walls; a rotatable, vertical mixing shaftwithin said vessel; a plurality of hubs slidably stacked on said shaft,alternate hubs cooperating with said shaft so as to be rotatabletherewith and the other hubs being constructed so that said shaft turnswithin them; at least one mixing bar fixed to an d extendinghorizontally from each hub; stationary means within said vesselsupporting the outer ends of those bars carried by said other hubs; adriven shaft supported coaxially above said mixing shaft; and releasablecoupling means between said driven shaft and said mixing shaft.
 4. Acooking apparatus as claimed in claim 3 wherein a U-shaped mixing memberis attached to the end of said rotatable shaft near the bottom of saidvessel, said U-shaped mixing member being in near proximity of thebottom and side walls of said vessel with the upright sections of theU-shaped member clearing the ends of said mixing bars attached to saidhubs on said rotatable shaft.